His initials will soon be better known than his own name. Papa Massata Diack, aka PMD (our photo), son of the former president of the IAAF, Lamine Diack, could well prove to be one of the most controversial characters in world sport. A key player in a series of corruption cases which is embarrassing both the International Athletics Federation and the IOC.
Let's quickly move on to the relationship between PMD and the IAAF. They have been known for several weeks. Employed as a marketing consultant by the world athletics body until December 2014, when his own father was president, the Senegalese was banned for life. He is suspected of corruption. In particular, he allegedly played a major role in attempts to extort funds from Russian athletes found guilty of doping.
The matter is not new. But the daily Le Monde brings new elements in a long article published in its edition of January 12, 2016. It reveals in particular that Papa Massata Diack, 50 years old, third of Lamine Diack's fifteen children (with two wives...) would have "spent 131 euros, the 400 and July 16, 25, from the Elysées Shopping brand in Paris, to buy watches and luxury items.” One of these watches was allegedly given to Gabriel Dollé, the former head of anti-doping at the IAAF. The same Gabriel Dollé would have explained to investigators, still according to Le Monde, having also received 50 euros in cash at the Fairmont Hotel in Monaco, in exchange for his silence on positive cases of Russian athletes.
Papa Massata Diack is currently in Senegal, far from the pursuit of French justice. His lawyer, Me Jean-Yves Garaud, did not wish to answer daily questions.
Dark coincidence of events: the name of Lamine Diack's son comes up in another case, relayed by The Guardian. A corruption case which involves his father and, this time, six alleged members of the IOC. The English daily reports having had access to emails sent by PMD to a Qatari businessman in May 2008. At the time, Doha was an applicant city for the organization of the Summer Games in 2016. This electronic correspondence suggests that six people, identified only by their initials which correspond to six members of the IOC at the time, demanded to receive their “package” from a special advisor in Monaco. A special advisor that the Guardian identified himself as Lamine Diack.
Have all the packages in question been sent? Whose? Mystery. But this alleged attempt at corruption has not, it seems, been crowned with success. A month after the emails were sent, Doha was excluded by the IOC from the race for the 2026 Games. The capital of Qatar was not included in the “short list” of candidate cities.
However, the IOC takes the matter very seriously. The Olympic organization asked the Guardian to provide him with a copy of the emails sent by PMD. The daily refused, unsurprisingly, rightly invoking the protection of sources. In a press release addressed to Associated Press, the IOC explains that it sought to obtain information from the English daily with a view to transmitting it to its ethics commission. “But this was refused to us,” said the IOC. In the absence of concrete elements, it is difficult for us to comment on such a matter. »
Case closed? For the IOC, certainly. At least temporarily. But the names of its six mysterious members receiving these no less mysterious packages could well come to light, as long as French justice gets its hands on Papa Massata Diack.
